There is a cynical view of filmmaking (be it Hollywood or foreign fare) which suggests that as long as films adhere to a specific formula – "x" number of laughs, "y" number of big stars, "z" number of actions sequences, etc. – success is ensured. It is a view of the motion picture world that is both in encapsulated in and blown away by Ben Stiller's summer hit and recent Blu-ray release, Tropic Thunder.
The film, helmed by and starring Stiller as well as Robert Downey Jr., Jack Black, Jay Baruchel and Brandon T. Jackson among others purports to follow the making of a blockbuster film, which is in turn based on a true story. The making of the film, also titled Tropic Thunder, goes horribly awry as the massive personalities of the stars involved tank the project. Stiller's Tugg Speedman, an over-the-hill, dumb as bricks, action star leads that charge, though drugged-out low-brow comedian Jeff Portnoy (Black) comes in a close second, and hip-hop artist Alpa Chino (Jackson) is clearly far more interested in shilling his new drink and energy bar than working on his serious role in the film. Even ultra-serious and committed multiple Oscar winner Kirk Lazarus (Downey Jr.) can't seem to focus on the film being shot for all the shenanigans taking place around him.
With the film within the film clearly in trouble, Thunder's director, Damien Cockburn (Steve Coogan), fearing for his job takes some bad advice and moves his film's stars away from the comforts of the set and into a war zone. Things take one bad turn after another, and the actors find themselves re-enacting moments of the script in order to actually save the day.
Tropic Thunder overtly plays on Apocalypse Now and Hearts of Darkness: A Filmmaker's Apocalypse, which recounts the filmmaking the war epic to great effect. Stiller has expanded the story beyond those two pieces to mock Hollywood filmmaking, executives, and stars, but the roots of Tropic Thunder are all to be found in the Coppolas' works.
In his career Stiller has managed to careen wildly between low-brow single-note comedy and far more wise, intelligent fare. Very happily, Tropic Thunder is far more the latter than the former. It does have its share of easy jokes and utter foolishness, and the majority of the characters are one dimensional, but more often than not, much like Kirk Lazarus, it manages to rise above it all.
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